March 9, 2006
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—that we may eat it and die
“I don’t have any bread–only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it — and die.”
This was it. This was the end for this widow. She had nothing left. She was preparing her last meal. Can you imagine?
I can’t imagine. Or at least, even in the moments in my life where I was at the end of my rope, it was never actually this bad.
Funny though how it was in this moment, that God decided to send a prophet to this widow to ask her to give him some bread. What~?! Didn’t God know that she had nothing left?
Elijah said, “…first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.”
It wasn’t just that she had to give what she didn’t have but that she had to give it to him first. But how would she know that if she made some bread for him first, there would even be anything left over for her and her son?
Elijah said, “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.’”
That was the promise. The widow had a promise of God’s provision! –But to gain this provision, it would require that she take steps of faith. She had to give her first and best and her last and all. Making that cake of bread really would be a challenge of faith. She had to give to him first. And it was the BEST of what she had. It was also her last… the very last of what she had… it was all that she had.
Are you ready for that? It sounds so easy theoretically. But, oh, when you’re looking down an empty barrel, an empty jar and jug –an empty bank account– it’s really not so simple after all.
But according to history (1 Kings 17:16), “the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord.” This was true for at least one or one and a half years of famine over all of Israel! The widow’s jar of flour and jug of oil never went dry! She never went hungry. Fathom that!
“All” that it required was giving up her first and best and last and all…
Comments (4)
Your post reminded me of a quote by the author of the book, ‘The Desire of Ages.’ I thought I’d share it with you since it was really cool to see you write it:
A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for our redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first and last and best in everything. But this union costs us something. It is a union of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood of Christ. They must have change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment, as well as a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness–sin in all its forms –must be overcome, if we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is, they try to attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from these cherished idols.
good to see you blogging again. =) hi, maryann!!!!
- marcia =)
what a tangible story……….. and a TRUE ONE.
how perfect.
thanks.